RCMP still searching for missing DJ

The Whistler RCMP is still following leads on missing DJ Mike Grefner, who performs under the name Vs. Zero.

Grefner was reported missing in the early morning hours of Jan. 19 after failing to show up for work, and has not been heard from since just after 5 a.m. on Jan. 17.

His family and friends have combed the area around Rainbow where he was living and around the resort while the RCMP has followed up on dozens of leads that have come in placing Grefner as far away as Alberta.

So far none of the leads has panned out, and Grefner has not used his phone, accessed his Internet account, made contact with family members or taken money out of the bank.

The RCMP did find two shoes that would fit Grefner along the highway just south of Rainbow. They searched the snowbank and surrounding area with avalanche probes and a police dog, believing that it was a possibility that a vehicle driving on the highway hit him. They are planning to continue investigating in that area.

Skiers safe after overnight ordeal

Just before 6 p.m. on Feb. 6, the RCMP received a 911 call from two skiers lost on the backside of Whistler. They had gone down the Cake Hole with other skiers who knew the area, but missed the traverse that would take them back to the Cheakamus Lake parking area and back to the highway.

The RCMP put the men in touch with ski patrol, which gave them directions on how to walk out of the area, with instructions to call back every half hour. Their cell phone gave out at roughly 10:15 p.m. and Search and Rescue were called. The men were found on the morning of Feb. 7, and were not in an area where they could ski out or be retrieved easily. As a result the men were long-lined out of the area by helicopter.

The men are a 29-year-old and 33-year-old from Uclueluet, on Vancouver Island.

Man arrested for poaching lifts

At 9:04 a.m. on Feb. 2 the RCMP was called in by Whistler Blackcomb staff after they intercepted a male who had hiked up the mountain to use the lifts. A North Vancouver male in his 20s is facing charges of theft or fraud for his actions.

Frequent offender facing new charges

At 7:15 a.m. on Feb. 2, the Whistler RCMP received a report that a male on the Village Stroll was being openly hostile to people. When officers attended they found the male under a blanket and surrounded by containers of liquor. He was arrested for causing a disturbance, then held and sent to court in North Vancouver for breaching the terms of his probation; not to be intoxicated and not to be in Whistler.

The 48-year-old Mt. Currie male is well known to police. There are 462 files on his record, and in 2011 alone the RCMP dealt with the man 65 times.

Gondola Graffiti widespread

The search for the person or persons responsible for defacing a Peak 2 Peak gondola cabin by scratching graffiti onto its laminated glass windows is now province-wide, with the RCMP receiving similar reports from Seymour Mountain, Rossland, Nelson and Squamish. The Whistler graffiti alone caused damage estimated at $10,000.

Whistler Blackcomb staff noticed four graffiti tags in the cabin on Jan. 19, and the damage occurred between that morning and the previous inspection the day before.

Whistler Blackcomb had to remove the cabin from operation, affecting Peak 2 Peak operations until the glass could be replaced.

In a similar case, suspects entered a Starbucks on Hunter Place in Squamish and left tags in three areas of the business, including scratching the same words into a mirror, into the paint on the side of the building and on surface paint inside the building. Because of the similarity of the tags, police believe the instances in Whistler and Squamish are related.

According to the RCMP release, "Information received suggests that a group of males may have been travelling in the area visiting various ski resorts."

Anyone with information can contact the Whistler RCMP at 604-932-3044 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Whistler Blackcomb has offered a reward for information leading to the arrest.